Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1887-10-07
THE VETERANS REUNION
st. Louis Gayiy Decorated-A Misty
Rain Makes it Very Disagreeablt.
Twenty Thousand Jolly Comrades Pa
rade in Spite of the Floods of Rain.
AT ST. LOUIS.

| stars ana stripes.
ST.. LOUIS, Sept. 26.-The sky at day
break was obscured by heavy clouds, anc
toward z O'clock a misty rain, which
| promised to continue throughout the da,
began TO fall. The veterans didn't seen
to mind 1t, however and the New Yorl
| hrcmen Dade defiance to the elements b,
making long street parade, escorted by
| the e'local tiremer and a battalion of police
! Cappa's band was at their head, and tht
Old Gotham engine in the rear, and as
they marched along with forms erect anc
faces upturned toward the rain, they se
an example of how to be satisfied witt
existing circumstances, favorable or un
favorable, that had magical effect anG
was tenpestuousIy recognized by the
crowds that lined the streets.
Weather permitting, the parade of the
! Grand Army tomorrow will be a memOr.
able event N the history of ST. Louis
| According to present indications there
will be more veterans in line than at any
! previous encampment since the organi-
zation was brought into existence, and a
| greater number of old soldiers will be
within the limits of the city by midnight
| than has been gathered together at any
one place since the grand review at Wash
! ingtOn after the close of the war. The
work of decor ating the city is about
compisted, and from the moment that
| they emerge from the depot until their
| res pective headquarters are reached, the
spectacle that is presented to the
arriving delegates is an enhancing one
st. Louis has yelled herself in bright
hued bunting. Nearly every building
from the business center TO the outskirts.
displays its flags and banners, and there
is bewildering profusion of such mot
toes as "Welcome to the Brave" and God
Bless Oar Heroes" Along the principal
BUSINESS streets the decorations on many
# the large stores and Office buildings
are both novel and ornate, and the offer
of prize by the executive committee
fer the most handsome and
unique decoration of any ole
building has created quite a rivalry.
The miles of streets that are
to be traversed by the parade to, morrow
are bordered with iron arches, studded
with gas jets, enclosed in globes of va
ried hue, ana the Illuminated arches are
almost without number. The main tri-
umphal arch has been erected at the in
tersection of Twelfth and Olive streets
and near by is the grand stand, from
which the parade will be reviewed by the
mmander-in- chief and invited guests.
Saturday the designs upon the arch will
be changed, and next week it will be made
to do service for the reception of the
president.
The rain of to-day, which slackened off
somewhat this afternoon, was unfortun-
ate for the comfort of the veterans who
will commence to camp out this after
~, L
tsGts i'll the square surrounding the old
court house, in the center Of the business
section, but many of the camps, includ-
ing those of Wisconsin, are located at
points from one to three miles distant
SO far there is little talk of successor
to Gen. Fairchild, but to night and to-
morrow number of the delegations will
go into caucus. The drift of the local
sentiment seems favorable to Gen. D, p,
Grier, chairman OF the general executive
cor. mittee, and to whom mach of the
credit for the adm irable character Of the
arrangements properly belongs. There
Is, however, strong undercurrent of
feeling in the direction of Gen. Sherman,
and despite the protestations of the
grizzly veteran that he is not seeking
and would not accept the office, it may
develop into boom.
Mayor Francis action in prohibiting
all overhanging flags, banners or pictures
except the stars and stripes, gives gen
eral satisfaction to the visitors from
abroad, who are not at all backward in
expressing their satisfaction that even
the most remote possibility of a recur-
renee of the Wheeling incident has been
removed.
The feature of this cncampmeut is the
sheltering of a large number of old
veterans III tents. It was tiled at each
encampment before in small numbers
and the plan gave such satisfaction and
pleasure that it was decided thus to house
vast numbers and the executive com
mIttee arranged to care for greater
concourse of people in the field than
ever before attempted in any land except
IN times of war. Perhaps no canvass
city of such proportion has ever been
built in so short a time.
Within two months $500 tents, with
ample room for $4,000 soldiers, have
been put together and are now pitched in
the ten beautiful parks of the city, all
within q radius of two miles. The doubt
as to whether the boys would take 20 the
tents has been dispelled, for more ap-
plications for such shelter have been
made than the tents are ready for.
All afternoon and evening the arrival
of veterans and their families has been
incessant. This evening the visitors
were entertained by receptions at the
various post headquarters. Owing to the
inclemency of the weather it was iced
tonight that In case of a light
rain or drizzle the parade should
take place 10 morrow as per
programme, but the case it was impos-
sIbte to form or ranks were broken by
hsavy rain, the parade will be postponed
until Wednesday morning at 10 O'Clock.
In the event os postponement the annual
encampment session proper will not be-
gin till Wednesday afternoon. General
Fairchild, staff and party arrived this
evening.
Another Dreary Day-The Parade Takes Place
in the Rain-SceneS and Incidents.
ST. LOUIS, Sept. 2S.-Another dreary
day has set in. 1t is drizzling again this
morning and the streets are in bad con-
dition. Last night the local committee
entertained serious intention of declar-
ing the march part off, but the veterans
wouldn't have it, and word was sent to
headquarters that even if it rained as it
never rained before, there were enough
comrades ready aud willing to turn out
to make respectable showing. 1t was
after o'clock this morning, however,
before it was finally decided that the
comrades might be permitted to have
their way. Every available carriage,
buggy, omnibus, and vehicles of all de-
scription were impressed into service,
! for the benefit of those who from age and
| lnirmity were unable to take their place
in the column and brave the elements.
Meanwhile the news that the parade
would go on, spread in all directions, and